A Path to Heroism
by KingofBlacks
Summary: Kurogawa Ryuuji has lived his whole life aspiring to be a hero. With U.A at his sights, his dream is now closer than ever. Crossing path with a certain quirkless green-haired boy might spice things up for him. That's for certain.


**Author's Note: Sup, citizens of Fanfiction. I have returned, from the mother of all hiatus (thanks to a plethora of real life issues), to bring a new story. Yeah, for those waiting for my RWBY and Ace Attorney works, I apologise but ideas are hard to come by so progress was kinda slow. But as I have probably said in the past, I won't abandon my work. Neglect them, probably (with good reasons) but never discontinuing them. I have plans for them, and I'll be damned if I don't see them till the end.**

 **Anyway, rambled on long enough so let's get started. My first chapter of my Boku no Hero Academia fic. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi, which is not me. Sadly. The OC(s) however are mine. So if you wanna use them, ask me for permission. Intellectual property rights and all, yaw.**

* * *

The Path to Heroism

Chapter 1: Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

(Location: Class 3-A, Jakku Middle School)

It was a relatively normal day at school. Students chatting around while the teachers were preparing for their lessons.

"Alright, class. Listen up," The teacher called the students to attention, "You guys only have six more months before you graduate and eight more before you go for your highschool entrance exam. Has anybody made their decision on which school their going to?"

The teacher only received mutters in response before sighing. "Figures, you all lazy bum would leave it 'till the last minute. Don't say I didn't warn you." With that, he turned his attention to the paper he's holding. Well, it seems only one student actually submitted his forms. Kurogawa!"

Everyone's attention was shifted to one particular student. He was at the middle of the class, giving him the perfect center of the attention mood. With dark hair and purple eyes, the boy was currently caught up in his own world when his name was called.

"What was that, Sensei?" he asked jovially.

The teacher then responded, "You wrote down in your form that you're aiming to go to UA, right?" The boy nodded excitedly as confirmation.

The class instantly broke into murmurs at the news.

"UA, you mean the best school in the Japan? The one that's known to give out top Heroes every year?"

"I heard the acceptance rate is like 10%, man."

"Of course he'd go there. His quirk is fucking rad man."

"Can he even go there? He's not really….y'know?"

"Hey, hey. Simmer down, everyone," the teacher roused them back from their chatter. "Class is still in session, y'know that? And at the very least, someone in this class has their aims set, no matter how high it is. Which is more than I can say for you lazy numbskulls here!"

Just as the teacher was about to start his lecture on diligency, Kurogawa raised his hand.

"What is it, Kurogawa?"

The boy grinned sheepishly before banswering, "About me applying to U.A and stuff….I actually got a recommendation letter from UA last week, so…yeah."

….

"WHAT?!"

Cue the uproar from the other students.

"How'd you get the recommendation?! I thought you need to get approval from a pro Hero to get that?"

"Lucky bastard….getting to UA without even breaking a sweat like that."

"Oh please, I could get a recommendation from UA, too. Just watch!"

"With your Quirk and grades? Ha, you'll lucky to even get in a middle-ranked school!"

"Shut the fuck up, you bastard!"

The teacher tried to calm the students down, to no avail. Sighing in resignation, he wondered for the hundredth time on his career choice and sat back down.

* * *

*DING* *DING* *DING*

The bell rang, signalling the end of school for today. Students scurried away from their classes, either to go home, do club activities or even hang out with their friends. Kurogawa in particular, walked out of the school gate on his way home, his head filled with thoughts about his recommendation test he'll be having after his finals as stated by the letter.

'Should I up my training for the test? I still need to brush up on my Quirk. I mean, I think it's fine as it is, but it doesn't hurt to improve myself, right?' He mused as he walked past the crowds. 'I should probably ask the old man 'bout how the tests are graded?'

He kept up this train of thought until he passed by Dagobah Beach, an area he usually used for training. He observed the garbage-ridden area until he noticed something, or rather someone.

One of them was a teen wearing white shirt and green baggy pants, probably younger than him judging from his height, with messy green hair and freckles on his cheek. Currently, he was dragging along a fridge (one of the many trashes left behind by people on the beach) while supporting the weight of another person on his back. The man was more like a walking skeleton, and has long blond hair falling down ungracefully. He was holding a megaphone and shouting at the younger teen carrying him, as if relaying orders.

"Old man?" He approached the pair closer and eventually recognised the adult. He ran up to them and cried out, "Yagi-jisan!"

The aforementioned skeleton turned around and his eyes widened as he saw Kurogawa approaching them, waving his arms wildly.

"All Might? Is he calling…you?" The green-haired boy asked in confusion, not recognising the name Yagi.

Toshinori ignored him, his attentions directed towards Kurogawa, "Ryuuji? What'are you doing here?"

The boy giggled and answered, "Silly old man. I always train here, remember?" He then turned towards the teen next to him. "So, who is he?"

"Ah. This is young Midoriya Izuku. I'm training him so he can apply to UA after he graduates." He slapped the aforementioned boy at the back, whiled he shyly muttered a greeting. "He's a little shy, mind you. Hahahahaha!"

At the mention of UA, Ryuuji's eye lightened up. "You're going to UA? Me too!"

"You too?!" Izuku's asked excitedly.

Ryuuji nodded excitedly. "Yeap. I was actually given the recommendation letter a few weeks ago! I'm really pumped up for this!"

Izuku's eyes widened as he heard about the recommendation letter. He had heard about the sheer difficulty of getting to UA, and to get accepted by recommendation is nothing short of amazing.

"Who approved for your recommendation? Don't you need a pro Hero to do that?" Izuku inquired curiously.

Ryuuji gave a huge grin and answered, "It was the old man himself. He submitted my name to the board and BAM! I got the letter. Neat, right?"

Meanwhile, Izuku was confused. "Old man…who's this old man you're talking about?"

"Silly Izuku," The dark-haired teen chided jokingly before clarifying, "It's Yagi-jisan right here." He gestured to the walking skeleton right next to him, who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Izuku's jaw probably dropped to the floor at this revelation. "All Might?! You-" He quickly realised his mistake at revealing All Might's identity, but as he looked at the man, he was surprised to see that Toshinori calm about his identity reveal.

"If you're worried about revealing my identity to Ryuuji, don't worry. He already knows." He clarified with a shrug while Ryuuji gave Izuku a reassuring thumbs up as he breathed a sigh of relief. "As for your question, yes I was the one who gave my recommendation to UA for Ryuuji. It's all I could do for him as a hero. I couldn't just let such talent like him get wasted for nothing." It went unnoticed to the boys, by his tone went slightly somber by the end. He immediately brightened up and steered the subject away. "Anyway, all that means is that he'll be having test earlier than the rest. His spot is all but secured but he still needs to prove himself to be a Hero, just like you young Midoriya. "

Hearing his words, Izuku's vigor instantly replenished, filled with determination. He knows there are other people stronger than him, and he needed to prove himself to be a worthy vessel for One for All if he wants to achieve his dream to be a Hero. "I'll do my best, All Might."

Toshinori gave him a grin in response. "Now now, Just call me Toshinori now that you know my name. And let's get started again. This trash won't move itself, y'know!"

"H-hai, Toshinori-sensei!" And with that Izuku resumed his training regimen, continuing to pull the battered fridge with his renewed burning vigor. While Izuku continued training, Toshinori turned his attention back to Ryuuji.

"What're you gonna do now, Ryuuji?" he asked.

Ryuuji simply gave a shrug. "I was planning on training, but I guess I'll just go home now. Kaa-san won't be happy if I left home without telling her."

Toshinori gave a grim nod. "Ah, I see. Send my regards to your parents, will ya?"

"Sure, just don't be shy old man. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind having you around." He replied with a happy grin. The man simply gave him a blank expression, not dignifying him with a response. Before he turned to journey back home, he went and called out, "Izuku!"

"Huh?" The greenette responded as he lifted a broken air-conditioning unit.

"Make sure you work hard, okay?! I wanna see you when I get to UA." He cheered happily.

"Uh, uh, but I'm still not sure-"

"It's a promise between friends, okay?!" He interrupted, giving Izuku a thumbs up and flashing him a confident grin.

"Eeeehhh?!" The timid boy squeaked, caught off guard by Ryuuji's sudden proclamation. "F-f-friends? But we just met!"

The purple-eyed teen merely tilted his head in confusion. "You're a nice person. Why shouldn't we be friends?"

Izuku was touched by the sincerity in his voice. Never has someone shown this kind of trust towards him so readily. Even All Might, the man he idolized very much, approached him as a stranger (like he should) before he revealed his secrets to him. And here was Ryuuji, wanting to be his friend after a few minutes of meeting him.

Tears started to fall from his eyes as he replied, "Yes! We're friends, of course. And I promise I'll get to UA with all I can." It might be hasty for him to make such promises with his current progress, but he couldn't help it after hearing such an earnest request from someone like Ryuuji

Ryuuji grinned happily at Izuku's response. He was definitely excited with making a new friend. "Right! Work hard so you can fulfill the promise. See you tomorrow then, Izuku!" He waved at the pair before running back home.

All Might who had been watching the interaction chuckled lightheartedly and shook his head. "You really need to stop those waterworks, kiddo. It unbecoming for a hero."

Izuku quickly wiped out his tears. "S-sorry, it's just that he was so nice to me even though we just met and I couldn't help it."

"Heh, Ryuuji's always been like that with everyone he met." Toshinori explained with a soft smile. "He might seem like he's too trusting but the kid's more observant than he looks. He can always tell how a person is with just a glance. And with those he knew he can trust, he gets real attached to them. He mighy get a lil' pushy sometimes, but the kid's got a real golden heart."

Izuku nodded, taking in all the information as he continued his training. "You seem to know a lot about Ryuuji-kun, All Might. Are you close to him, by any chance?"

And right at that moment, Izuku could feel Toshinori flinched as his expression turned gloomy. "D-did I say something wrong?"

"N-no, it's just…." Toshinori trailed off mid sentence, as if trying to think of an appropriate response. "…I owe his parents a favor. And things went on from there, and before you know it, he's treating me like his real uncle." The man gave out a laugh, but it seemed hollow if anything. The green-haired teen realised there was more to the story, but held his tongue out of respect. When All Might trusted him enough to reveal the truth, he will tell him.

"…Okay." And with that, he put all his attention back to his training, with new promises and goals set.

'I'll get myself to UA. For myself, for All Might, and for Ryuuji.'

* * *

Ryuuji ran back home excitedly. After having made a new friend, he was eager to inform his parents about everything.

"I'm home!" He said as he entered the apartment and into the living room where his parents are.

"You're back, Ryuuji! What's got you so happy now?" His mom, Akemi asked with a motherly smile as she was busy cooking for dinner at the kitchen.

"Yeah, son. It's not like you'll be having your test for the recommendations anytime soon, right?" His dad, Shigeru added while reading the newspaper at the couch.

"Nope, not about the exams this time, Dad." He immediately dropped to the sofa, before continuing his story. "So, I met Yagi-jisan at the beach just now and he was training this guy around my age all by himself."

"Oh, Yagi-san is training a protégé now? That's great!" Akemi said.

"Yeah, that man needs to take a break now with his injuries and whatnot." Shigeru continued for his wife. "So, this boy. Who is he?"

"His name's Izuku and he's now my friend!" Ryuuji explained with glee.

Akemi gave a happy squeal and clasped her hands together. "Oh, you hear that, Shigeru? Our boy's got a friend now!"

"Of course I heard it, Akemi. I'm right here!" His dad gave a loud laugh while patting him at the back. "Our boy's all grown up now, hasn't he?"

"Mom! Dad! Stop embarassing me!" His happy tone betrayed his embarrased words.

"How 'bout we celebrate tonight with your favorite food, Ryuuji? How about that?" Akemi offered.

"Yes, chicken teriyaki for dinner!" The purple-eyed teen jumped in ecstasy, while his parents laughed at his antics. The happy family was simply content with how happy their son was today. Despite being a cheerful person, he never really showed this kind of happiness 'till now thanks to his lack of friends at school. Perhaps this will a small step for a better change for Ryuuji, and they could not be any more prouder.

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 **Author's Note: Annnnnnd Done! A lot lesser than my usual works (usually around 5k plus) but I think I like it this way. It's merely a prologue afterall. Just an introduction to our casts of heroes.**

 **Speaking of which, for the rather curious reader, yes Allmight has some relations with Ryuuji, but what exactly it is...you'll just have to find out in later chapters. I can't spoil them out, can I? That'll ruin the fun. But I'll be honest, Ryuuji's probably one of my favorite OCs so far. Being so carefree and whatnot. Add some dynamics to his interactions with Deku and others. Honestly, can't wait to write the next chapter myself. But, that'll probably have to wait. My RWBY and Ace Attorney fics are still pending after all.**

 **Anyway, you like this chapter? Don't forget to review, and hit that follow and favorite button right there. Keeps us all happy, wouldcha? Until next time.**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


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